You don't have to look far to find correlates in the animal and plant kingdoms. Nature's showy subjects also promote reproductive success with bright colors and flash, in feathers, scales, petals and wings. So what is it about bling? With millions of years of evolution behind them, wouldn't you think butterflies would be more evolved?
ASU neurophysiologist Carsten Duch and doctoral student Stefanie Ryglewski have discovered evidence that a voltage sensor might exist that directly activates an intracellular calcium release mechanism
ASU ecologist James Elser is at the leading edge of a research field that focuses on understanding the processing of energy and multiple chemical elements in plants, animals and microbes, and how they sculpt ecosystems, also known as ecological stoichiometry.
In a paper published in the Public Libry Nelsoary of Science journal PLoS Biology, ASU School of Life Sciences researchers together with a University of California-affiliated researcher, have shown that a single gene, vitellogenin, controls multiple aspects of honey bee social organization.
Charles Kazilek, of ASU's School of Life Sciences, can see plant biology, chemistry, physics and history all weaving through the microscopic fibers of the thinnest of slivers of paper.
While the rapid pace of scientific discovery offers advances for technology and medicine - it often outstrips public understanding and social policy. It's that point where ASU Professor Jane Maienschein and the Center for Biology and society step in.